Saharawi student receives three awards for her commitment to her people’s right to freedom

Ms. Senia Bachir-Abderahman, a young Saharawi student, received three awards, last February 9, for her work as a student at Mount Holyoke College in the USA, for her commitment for her people’s freedom and right to self-determination. Two of the awards were given to Senia for her commitment for Western Sahara. The McCulloch Center Global Engagement Award for demonstrating "a high level of personal commitment to the community beyond the campus" and The Kelly Sottile Community Service Award for "outstanding commitment to raising awareness of critical global issues across campus and beyond". Senia Bachir-Abderahman is described by her college as "a tireless advocate for the some 200,000 refugees from Western Sahara living in camps in Algeria. Senia Bachir-Abderahman, who was born and raised in an Algerian refugee camp and still is without citizenship from her home country, has spoken biannually at the United Nations since 2006 on behalf of the Western Saharawi plea for independence". Senia gave the money from the Kelly Sottile Community Service Award to the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara. http://vest-sahara.no/index.php?parse_news=single&cat=1&art=1137 http://www.mtholyoke.edu/news/channels/25/stories/5681074 http://www.mtholyoke.edu/news/channels/22/stories/5681099 http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhc/sets/72157613582438471/